Thursday, April 30, 2015

The O.C. Easter Egg: House On Haunted Hill


In season 2 episode 9 "The Ex Factor" Sandy, Kirsten, Alex and Marissa are seen kicking back watching a spooky movie (in their separate houses). The movie that is being broadcast-ed (apparently the only movie channel in THE O.C.) is the 1959 smash hit "House On Haunted Hill". 









The funny thing about this whole situation is that Marissa refers to Caleb and her mother Julie's house as "The House On Haunted Hill" in season 1 episode 27 "The Ties That Bind". 



In Season 2 episode 2 Marissa and Ryan hang out at her new house. First dialog spoken by Marissa is: "So there it is, the haunted mansion.".




What makes this whole thing even more funny is the fact that Peter Gallagher aka Sandy Cohen starred in the 1999 remake of the film. 



And Lastly to put a cherry on this whole haunted sundae, Amanda Righetti Aka Kirstens little delinquent sister Hailey Nichol, plays in the 2007 remake "Return to House on Haunted Hill". SPOOOKY!!

Tuesday, April 28, 2015

The O.C. Mystery: The Case of Trey Atwoods Changing Identity


One of the biggest mystery's in the TV universe is when a main character is completely replaced by another. They are given the same name but look completely different! Even more of a mystery is when none of the other characters in the shows universe say anything about it, they just go along with it like they are under some sort of spell. Apparently alien ships routinely abduct actors working on set all the time cause this happens a lot in the land of TV.

In the case of The O.C. there was only one body transplant and it was Trey Atwood, Ryan Atwood-Cohen's misfit brother. The last time we see Trey played by the original actor Bradley Stryker was in the Thanksgiving episode "The Homecoming". Ryan and Marissa visit him in prison to drop off some turkey and stuffing as well as do a last favor for the guy. Prior to that we saw him in the Pilot episode and was mentioned in numerous episodes. Yes Trey committed a crime but the bigger crime was seeing Trey come out of prison as a new man, literally! Trey comes out looking a little shinier around the edges played by Logan Marshall-Green.

Now we probably could get an answer on why the actors switched from the super busy Josh Schwartz (creator of The O.C.) but he doesn't check Twitter messages often. For now this case will stay a mystery, Bradley Stryker or Logan Marshall-Green feel free to fill us in on the details! I'm going to assume that recasting is done for various reasons, it can be an actors choice to quit the show or movie but most often its the directors choice. Not all actors give off the same mood or fit every scenario. In the case of Trey Atwood I feel like the directors were going for a more diverse actor or one they can mold more easily in different situations or story lines. Perhaps Trey Atwood's character wasn't suppose to go further than the pilot therefor they didn't need to be too picky or have the complete package from the start or Bradley got offered something better. In closing both actors were fantastic but at the end of the day we got punk'd!

Thursday, April 23, 2015

The O.C. Flashback Series: Seth Cohen's Real High School Yearbook Photo

How old was Adam brody when he played Seth Cohen in the O.C.? When it comes to the land of TV, often actors are cast to play characters much younger or older than their real age for some odd reason. It's became very popular for 20+ year old to play teenagers in Hollywood and it must come down to their acting ability and maturity. This was very much the case when it comes to The O.C..With that being said lets reveal Seth Cohen aka Adam Brody's real high school yearbook photo as well as how old he was while playing in The O.C..


Above: Adam Brody at 17 in his real high school senior photo above
(real birthday December 15th 1979) 
Real Graduating class of 1997 Scripps Ranch High School in San Diego, California.  
Harbor School (The O.C. Class of 2006)
The O.C. aired from August 5, 2003, to February 22, 2007
Allegedly Seth Cohen's birthday is April 06, 1988 (not confirmed)

Looks a little bit more preppy than the Seth Cohen we all know and love, closer to a water polo player if you ask me. I wonder if he shaves his chest, I mean sweater vest! He is lacking the emo vibe and wearing a tie, come on man! This is the alternate reality Seth Cohen, if he never would have met Ryan or if Kirsten married Jimmy - he would have turned into this square above. 

Adam Brody was 23 when he started playing Seth Cohen in The O.C. and was 27 by the time the show ended. In the O.C. world that would have made him born in 1989. So that's a 9 year difference from his real life graduation date, now that's Hollywood for ya!

Stay tuned for the rest of the gang! 





Friday, April 17, 2015

The O.C Mystery: The Case of The Missing O.C. Hand-prints




During The O.C.'s heyday, the show was exploding like crazy into the pop culture scene! The O.C was so huge that on On October 28th 2004 at the Historic Balboa Pavilion in Newport Beach, the mayor of Newport handed various actors and creators that attended keys to the city (They actually were beer bottle openers that looked like keys but that's besides the point). This must have been a very exciting honor, I mean the actors and creators look pretty happy to be there (slight sarcasm).


From there the actors/creators were then given the opportunity to put their hands in cement to be immortalized forever..A whole ceremony happened, The O.C. actors etc smiled for photos, fans went crazy, they stuck their hands in cement and even signed their names. It was a big "to do" but where are they now? This was a very obscure and uncovered topic, though research I realized that was just the beginning for the hand prints. Word on the streets of Chino said they were originally suppose to be displayed permanently at the Balboa Pavilion (the same place they had the ceremony in Newport) in a walk of fame type manner as a tribute to the show's success but for some reason never happened. MYSTERIOUS.


From there the hand prints wound up at the Newport Beach Conference & Visitors Bureau. They were apparently displayed in the many visitor center windows and an estimated 200 people a month would pose in front of them and take photos using their hip flip camera phones.


After being there for a few years they made their final home (thus far) at the Newport Dunes Waterfront Resort (uhh random). Graciously the Newport Dunes people rescued these pieces of history and have them proudly displayed in their main office for fans to see.

According to this article on iamnotastalker.com (same place where i got the image above) one of the guys that works at Newport Dunes said “No one else wanted them, so we took them.”, can you believe that!! The front desk clerk also mentioned that "hundreds of people come by to see the hand prints each month, though". I think they are truly awesome and the mystery surrounding them are equally interesting. They are apparently far away from other O.C location spots, so not a convenient spot but i'd say its worth it! Regardless I want to go see them before they move somewhere else! I wonder why Seth (Adam Brody), Marissa (Mischa Barton), Summer (Rachel Bilson) weren't there to partake in the fun?! Further more it is strange that Zach Stevens (Michael Cassidy) was there over other more permanent characters. Regardless mystery solved....For now....I say they will appear on ebay soon and I w ill be the highest bidder.

How to find: 1311 Back Bay Drive in Newport Beach, just off Jamboree Road. (thanks iamnotastalker.com)

Additional close up hand print photos thanks to the site www.concertkatie.com!








Wednesday, April 8, 2015

The O.C. Fun Fact: The Cohen Infinity Pool

seth and ryan floating in pool the o.c.

The Cohen infinity pool seemed like it was used a lot in the show but in reality its acting days were numbered. But despite its lack of screen time the Cohen pool is hiding a very big (or shallow) secret. According to Josh Schwartz the Executive Creator of the show and do to studio limitations, the pool was actually only four feet deep. This explains why there wasn't any Cohen cannon ball competitions etc (that could have pushed the show at least through a 5th season). In order to make the pool seem realistic, the actors were told to stand on their knees (talk about knee burn). This fatal flaw could be why the pool wasn't featured much more than a few episodes and also as a mood setting prop (which I find very effective). Interestingly enough this must have meant that the whole studio was built above ground on a platform high enough to accommodate the four feet deep infinity pool. Furthermore in the special "Welcome To The O.C.: A Day In the Life" Josh Schwartz admits "The surface of the hot tub is a little bit... icky. I wouldn't go in there. Notice none of the actors have been in the hot tub for like a year and a half. We should probably have someone look into that.".

Episodes the pool was actually used (also counting the hot tub):

Season 1 Episode 2 "The Model Home"

seth and ryan floating in pool the o.c.

Here we have the first time the infinity pool was used in its short life. Seth and Ryan briefly float around in the pool while Seth asks Ryan what he wants to do. Seth asks Ryan if he would like to go to an "IMAX shark movie" (referenced multiple times in the series), Ryan responds "I think I just want to take it easy.".

Season 1 Episode 5 "The Outsider"

ryan and marissa hang out in pool the o.c.

Ryan and Marissa finally have their date, they eat grilled cheese (don't knock it til you try it), and push each other into the pool only to get interrupted by a certain curly haired someone via Ryan's cell phone.

Season 1 Episode 7 "The Girlfriend"

gabrielle bikini the o.c.
seth and ryan drooling over gabrielle the o.c.
Gabrielle Nichole Hiltz bikini pool floating the o.c.

Ryan sees a blonde bombshell swimming in the Cohen pool, he does a double take (priceless reactions above). It's Caleb's new girlfriend/plaything 20 something Gabrielle (played by Nichole Hiltz). Seth and Ryan spend a good while oggling at her in all her curvy gold-digger greatness and then a whole lot of other drama happens (spoiler alert). No but seriously watch this episode, its great and also a very daring move on the writers part due to the age difference of Gabrielle and Ryan. Risk well taken!

ryan seth float in pool the o.c.

There is also a second pool scene at 23 minutes Ryan and Seth floating on water beds, man they are abusing the pool in this episode!

Season 1 Episode 9 "The Heights"

kirsten sandy kiss hot tub the o.c.

Kirsten and Sandy still find time to be lovable despite Sandy going ahead with the case against Caleb Nichol and Kirsten's company involving building on sacred land where the "Swamp Rose" grows. 

Season 1 Episode 14 "The Countdown"

Hailey nichol pool party new years the o.c.

Kirsten's Sister Hailey Nichol crashes the Cohen's house to "invite a few friends over" for new years eve. Turns into an all out pool party rager with Ryan and Seth locked in the pool house.

Season 1 Episode 16 "The Links"

seth hanging out by the pool golf

Ryan finds out that hes going to have to get good at golf, since that's where Oliver is taking them. Seth and Sandy hang out and give him some pointers. He's gonna need all the help he can get! 

Season 1 Episode 21 "The Goodbye Girl"

eddie ryan punched in pool the o.c.

Eddie comes to see Theresa at the Caleb Nichol Riviera magazine "Man of the Year" ceremony hosted at the Cohen's house. You guessed it, another pool scene and this time Ryan goes headfirst!

Season 1 Episode 26 "The Strip"

julie and hailey pool fight the o.c.

Kirsten hosts a bachelorette party at her house and then a cat fight happens between Hailey, Julie and oh yeah the hired chip and dales (not small) stripper. If you watch closely you can see how truly shallow the pool is not to mention small. 

Season 2 Episode 24 "The Dearly Beloved"

ryan and seth pool the o.c.

Wow I didn't think we were going to see a Cohen pool scene in the second season, guess I was wrong..The very last episode of season 2 features Ryan and yes Seth floating across the pool like a pair of synchronized swimmers, this time Ryan offers Seth an "IMAX Shark Movie", very ironic. Consequently a main character meets his demise in a pool in this very episode.

I think it makes sense why the pool was featured less in season two, as you can see above there were several scenes in season 1 (more than I originally thought) that featured the Cohen pool. I think the lack of scenes was caused by overexposure and also due to the new characters and locations like the Bait Shop etc that was brought into the show in the second season. After all there is only so much you can show in a 42 minute time slot!

So there you have it, an exhaustive report on all the times the The Cohen pool was swam in/sat in/floated in or pushed/punched in (Ryan I must say you took that gracefully!). If I left any scenes out which could very likely be possible please let me know, thanks!

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